Kaj_Sotala comments on Writing Style and the Typical Mind Fallacy - Less Wrong

27 Post author: lukeprog 14 July 2013 04:47AM

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Comment author: Kaj_Sotala 14 July 2013 05:58:42AM 4 points [-]

Do you prefer...

Do you read a lot of fiction?

Your background?

Do you consider yourself to have an epiphany addiction?

Bonus question

Submitting...

Comment author: Jayson_Virissimo 14 July 2013 07:16:49AM 11 points [-]

I didn't answer the poll because I prefer Luke's style for instrumental rationality topics and Eliezer's for epistemic rationality topics. It was unclear to me how I should have answered the questions.

Comment author: David_Gerard 14 July 2013 08:27:16AM 23 points [-]

[X] Yvain's style

Comment author: Leonhart 14 July 2013 08:59:41PM 18 points [-]

I struggle to get through Yvain's posts; it's like trying to sit through a social psychology lecture delivered by Fluttershy. All ability to focus is blotted out by eeee I want to hug the author

Comment author: magfrump 23 July 2013 10:45:40AM 1 point [-]

I was concerned about this comment right up until the end, at which point I discovered that I had really enjoyed it intensely the whole time.

Comment author: FourFire 22 July 2014 05:34:32PM 0 points [-]

I am still interested in some good examples of Yvain's posts which invoked this reaction from you, I have been reading somewhat more of his writing recently and though I often agree with his points, I don't recall feeling such explicit urges.

Comment author: Leonhart 23 July 2014 10:16:42PM 0 points [-]

PMed you because of reasons

Comment author: FourFire 18 July 2013 07:42:56AM 0 points [-]

Could you please provide some good examples which trigger this effect? I haven't read more than ten or so of Yvain's blog posts so my sample size might explain why I haven't observed it yet.

Comment author: Gabriel 14 July 2013 05:04:54PM *  6 points [-]

I propose that another bonus question be added, one about preferred method of eating corn.

Comment author: Benito 14 July 2013 08:22:57AM 4 points [-]

This poll does not show how people from one category voted in another, which is precisely the relationship that Lukeprog was looking for.

Unless you can do that with the raw poll data, but that just confused me.

Comment author: gwern 15 July 2013 12:36:39AM *  6 points [-]

Unless you can do that with the raw poll data, but that just confused me.

Thankfully, the data is not quite that crippled! The data is reported in a... 'long' format, I think the term is, where each row is a single poll item response with a unique ID for the respondent. If you want to look at that sort of question, it's up to you to aggregate the data correctly (eg with grep). You can see this by looking at particular unique IDs, say that of Leonhart and anonymous respondent 11:

$ grep Leonhart poll.csv
"Leonhart","538","0","2013-07-14T21:05:29.027196"
"Leonhart","539","0","2013-07-14T21:05:29.118328"
"Leonhart","540","1","2013-07-14T21:05:29.292160"
"Leonhart","541","1","2013-07-14T21:05:29.244125"
"Leonhart","542","3","2013-07-14T21:05:29.178701"
$ grep \"11\" poll.csv
"11","538","0","2013-07-14T21:05:25.150240"
"11","539","2","2013-07-14T21:05:25.302881"
"11","540","0","2013-07-14T21:05:25.533486"
"11","541","1","2013-07-14T21:05:25.458408"
"11","542","2","2013-07-14T21:05:25.398273"

There's 5 entries for each, since there were 5 poll items, and and each poll item has its own unique ID as well. So if you wanted to know the relationship of an answer on poll item #538 and #541 based on how subjects answered #538, you'd get a list of everyone answered "0" in #538, and pull out their answer for #541 as well. That sort of thing.


(And now that I'm the topic, I wonder where my own writings fall, and how I would even know if I were insufficiently writing like Eliezer/Luke/Yvain.)

Comment author: spuckblase 16 July 2013 08:50:52AM 2 points [-]

I like the your non-fiction style a lot (don't know your fictional stuff). I often get the impression you're in total control of the material. Very thorough yet original, witty and humble. The exemplary research paper. Definitely more Luke than Yvain/Eliezer.

Comment author: Kaj_Sotala 14 July 2013 06:26:29PM 0 points [-]

I thought somebody else had previously done such analysis with raw poll data? But maybe I'm mistaken.

Comment author: Desrtopa 14 July 2013 03:44:25PM 2 points [-]

I put myself down for not reading a lot of fiction, but I was torn on that question, because while my book list is almost entirely nonfiction now, a few years ago it would have been the opposite.

Comment author: coffeespoons 14 July 2013 10:15:39PM *  0 points [-]

I voted "both equally", but really I want Eliezer to continue writing in Eliezer's style and Luke to keep writing in Luke's style! Mostly I prefer reading factual things written in Luke's style, but Eliezer's style really seems to work for the sequences.